Carl N. Reed, Jr.

Wilder, Vt. — Carl N. Reed, Jr., a resident of Valley Terrace in Wilder, passed away peacefully on Sunday, March 24, 2013, at the age of 86.

Carl was born in Buffalo, N.Y. on August 19, 1926, to Carl Reed, Sr. and Margaret Barcalo Reed. He graduated from Nichols School in 1944. He spent several high school summers working at a cattle ranch in Montana, a job which sparked his love of hard outdoor work. Upon graduation, Carl and a number of his classmates rushed to join the Navy. He volunteered for the submarine service and received his training as a radioman. He was soon deployed from Pearl Harbor on the U.S.S Queenfish, arriving in the Sea of Japan shortly before Japan surrendered.

Upon his return, Carl attended Dartmouth College as a member of the Class of 1950. A short but memorable stint playing hockey for Eddie Jeremiah ended when studies became Carl’s main priority. On Sept. 17, 1948, he married his high school sweetheart, the love of his life, Nancy Dann. After graduation he began working at Niagara Lithograph, the family printing business in Buffalo. He focused on sales and nurtured the company’s largest account, Fisher-Price. Carl worked in the printing business until his retirement at the age of 72.

In 1956, Carl scooped up Nancy and their three kids and moved to Boston, N.Y., a small rural town south of Buffalo. The large property gave him an outlet for his love of the out-of-doors and for physical activity, traits he gladly passed on to his children! He could till the vegetable garden, chop firewood, plow the long driveway, swim in the farm pond he built, make maple syrup; all to his heart’s content. When the weather kept him from the outdoors, he puttered in his basement woodshop constructing beautiful furniture and wooden toys. The relocation also moved his family closer to ski country, making it easier for the family to indulge in its favorite winter activity. Initial years as members of Murray Hill Ski Club were followed by many happy years skiing at Glenwood Acres with family and friends. Carl and Nancy both became active National Ski Patrollers, with Carl serving an extended stint as patrol director and later as regional director.

Carl’s favorite getaway was Lac des Abattis (Windfall), a paradise north of Ottawa where his father had built a cozy and spacious log cabin on the beautiful lake. Carl loved to fish and explore the area with his family. He enjoyed doing needed maintenance projects around the camp. He loved to sit on the front porch and watch the sun set, while listening to the loons and sipping a cocktail.

When no longer able to maintain the Boston property, Carl and Nancy moved to Fox Run Retirement Community in Orchard Park, N.Y. in 2006. Carl moved to Valley Terrace in Wilder in 2010, a year after Nancy passed away. The family would like to thank the wonderful staffs and residents of both residences for their loving embrace of Carl and for giving his last years quality and meaning. We would also like to thank the caring and professional staffs of the Dartmouth–Hitchcock Hospital Neurology Department and The Alice Peck Day Rehab Unit for helping Carl surmount some recent difficult medical issues. Finally, we would like to thank Terrie Hurd and TLC Nursing for providing Carl with loving companionship and care the last two months of his life.

Carl was a consummate gentleman whose smile made you smile. He had an inspiring toughness, yet a vulnerable gentleness. He was tight with a buck, but not with his love for families and friends. He is survived by his son Carl and wife Suzie of Fort Collins, Co., their children Steve, Jack and Carl; daughter Jessica and husband Doug Williams of Carabassett Valley, Maine, their children, Jesse, Chase, Helena and Briggs; son Jeffrey and wife Elizabeth Perry of Norwich, Vt. their children Lily and Sohier Perry. He is also survived by four great-grandchildren.

Carl and Nancy helped found and build the Orchard Park Community Church, and it played a wonderful part in their lives. Donations may be made to the church: 7451 East Quaker St., Orchard Park, N.Y. 14127.

A celebration of Carl’s life will be held at Valley Terrace on March 30, 2013. A further memorial will occur at a later date at the Orchard Park Community Church. Ricker Funeral Home & Crematory in Lebanon, N.H. assisted with arrangements. Messages of sympathy can be shared at www.rickerfuneralhome.com.